Heel wedge for shoe

ABSTRACT

A wedge, having an edge conforming to an exterior surface of the side of a shoe heel, is approximately the shape of one-half a heel, tapered from the exterior edge to the interior edge and has a series of elongated nail bracketing slots. The wedge is arranged to be forced between the nailed-on heel of a shoe and its sole to thereby compensate for a worn-down heel.

United States Patent Procopio 1 July4, 1972 {54] HEEL WEDGE FOR SHOE [72] Inventor: Antonio Procopio, 4690 Clayton Street,

Denver, Colo. 80216 [22] Filed: May 12, 1971 2] Appl. No.: 142,538

52 Us. Cl ..36/81 [51] Int. Cl. ..A43b 7/16 [58] Field ofSearch ..36/8l,82,7l,34 R, 34 A, 36/34 B, l

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Ehrich ..36/8l Adler et al. ..36/8l Schlesinger ..36/7l Primary ExaminerPatrick D. Lawson Attorney-Richard D. Law

[57] ABSTRACT A wedge, having an edge conforming to an exterior surface of the side of a shoe heel, is approximately the shape of one-half a heel, tapered from the exterior edge to the interior edge and has a series of elongated nail bracketing slots. The wedge is arranged to be forced between the nailed-on heel of a shoe and its sole to thereby compensate for a worn-down heel.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PKTENTEDJUL "4 I972 3,673,714

FIG.|

FIG. 2

FIG. 5

20 ,/a /6 4 [HUI/III! l I I III II l [ilk /2 INVENTOR FIG.4 ANTONIO PROCOPIO BY M 4 a W ATTORl lEY HEEL WEDGE FOR SHOE Generally, a normal adult male in wearing shoes tends to wear the rear outside portion of the heel faster than the other portions of the heel. As the wear continues, it extends along the outside of the heel with the wear gradually turning the plane of the sole outwardly and downwardly as the heel material is slowly worn away in use. I-leretofore, the corrective action has been to replace the heels of the shoes, to bring the plane of the sole back into proper position and preventing an uncomfortable turning of the ankleof the user as the sole changes. Since only a portion of the heel is worn down in sucha situation, replacement of the heel throws away a considerable part of a heel that has essentially no wearing, and is thus wasteful of time, money and material.

According to the present invention I have provided a heel wedge which may be easily inserted between the heel and sole of a shoe by the owner of the shoe. This wedge extends the life of the heel and returns the plane of the sole back to its generally level position to permit a continued wearing of the same heel. The unit includes a wedge-shaped member of about one-half the configuration of a heel, having a thickened edge which conforms generally to the exterior edge of the heel and particularly to the outside rear portion of the heel. The wedge includes a series of the elongated nail bracketing slots which permits the wedge to be driven into the joint between the heel and the sole without striking the nails holding the heel to the sole. The wedge is tapered from the outside to the inside edge so as to raise the outside edge of the sole to about its former position prior to the wearing of the heel, or in some cases, slightly higher. Included among the objects and advantages of the present invention is a wedge-shapedmember which is arranged to be forced into the junction between the heel and the sole of a shoe.

Another object to the invention is to provide a simple means of extending the life of the heel of a shoe.

Another object to the invention is to provide a wedgeshaped member which is easily forced into the junction between a heel and a sole of a shoe including nail bracketing slots therein to miss the nails holding the heel to the shoe.

A further object to the invention is to provide an inexpensive means of extending the life of the heel of a shoe which is readily usable by the owner of the shoe.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention may be readily ascertained by referring to the following description and appended illustrations in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a shoe incorporating the wedge of the invention;

FIG. 2 is top plan view of a shoe illustrating the positioning of a wedge according to the invention;

FIG. 3 is top plan view of a wedge according to the invention;

FIG. 4 is side elevational view of the wedge of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of the wedge of FIG. 3.

The wedge shown in FIGS. 3-5, includes a tapered body having an outer arcuate edge 12, which is arranged to conform generally with the exterior configuration of the heel of a male adult shoe. A series of elongated slots 14, l6, l8 and extends from an inner edge 22 of the wedge outwardly toward the opposite edge 12. Extending between the inner edge 22 and arcuate edge 12 is a straight edge 24 which generally conforms to the configuration of the inner edge of a heel. As shown in FIG. 5, the wedge tapers from the thickened outer edge I2 to a substantial knife edge 22 on the inner side, which provides an easy means for inserting the wedge between a heel and sole of a shoe. The configuration of the elongated slots is such as to bracket the nails which hold the heel to the shoe, so that the inner edge does not contact nails holding the heel while being driven into the joint between the shoe sole and the heel.

The wedge may be made of aluminum or other metal, and, preferably, may be made of a rigid plastic, such as an acrylic, styrene, casein resin or the like. The plastic unit may be readily molded to provide a very inexpensive wedge for a shoe. The

wedge may be, also, made in about three general sizes with each size arranged to span a range of different sizes of shoes.

For example, one size may be made to span a range of sizes from 5 to 8, one for the next size range of from 8 A to 11, and the other for the next size from i l b to 14. The configuration of the elongated slots may, also, be changed to provide nail bracketing slots for a particular type of heel. Since there are only few general types of heels,however, the slots may be made universal to bracket the nail configuration of various types of heels, and-prevent the plastic from contacting the nails holding any of the commercially available heels for the shoe.

In use, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the wedge 10 is driven in between a heel 30 and a sole 32 of a shoe 34 from the outside edge of the heel covering the area of half of the heel above, particularly, the wear area 36 on the heel. As shown in FIG. 2, the outer edge 12 generally follows the configuration of the edge of the sole and the heeL-so that it is essentially unob-' servable. Also, the wedge may be colored to further camouflage its presence. The slots are arranged to bracket the nails holding the heel to the sole, and by forcing the wedge in the space it is securely held by the nails holding the heel.

The placement of the wedge in between the heel and the sole raises the plane of the sole on the outside of the heel to about its original, generally, horizontal position or slightly thereabove. This makes the shoe feel as if it has a new heel and permits further. wear of the heel, preventing run-over of the shoe due to the wear on the outside of the heel. When too much further wear has occurred the shoes may then be taken to a shoemaker for replacing the wom-out heels with new ones, and the wedge may be retrieved for reuse where desired.

I claim:

I. A wedge for placement'between a mans nailed-on heel and its supporting sole comprising a wedge-shaped member having an arcuate edge, a straight inner edge and one connecting straight edge between said arcuate and straight edges and' arranged to cover approximately the planar area of the outside one-half of a shoe heel; said wedge having its arcuate edge thickened and being tapered to said straight inner edge; said arcuate edge conforming to the edge surface of about one-half of the outside edge of a heel; and a plurality of slots extending from said straight edge toward said arcuate edge for bracketing the nails holding a heel to a sole when said wedge is forced between the heel and its sole.

2. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said straight inner edge is a knife edge.

3. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said connecting straight edge is arranged to conform with the undershoe edge of a heel.

4. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said slots are generally parallel.

5. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said wedge is made of metal.

6. A wedge according to claim 5 wherein said wedge is made of aluminum.

7. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said wedge is made of a rigid synthetic plastic. 

1. A wedge for placement between a man''s nailed-on heel and its supporting sole comprising a wedge-shaped member having an arcuate edge, a straight inner edge and one connecting straight edge between said arcuate and straight edges and arranged to cover approximately the planar area of the outside one-half of a shoe heel; said wedge having its arcuate edge thickened and being tapered to said straight inner edge; said arcuate edge conforming to the edge surface of about one-half of the outside edge of a heel; and a plurality of slots extending from said straight edge toward said arcuate edge for bracketing the nails holding a heel to a sole when said wedge is forced between the heel and its sole.
 2. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said straight inner edge is a knife edge.
 3. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said connecting straight edge is arranged to conform with the undershoe edge of a heel.
 4. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said slots are generally parallel.
 5. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said wedge is made of metal.
 6. A wedge according to claim 5 wherein said wedge is made of aluminum.
 7. A wedge according to claim 1 wherein said wedge is made of a rigid synthetic plastic. 